AURORA | The Smoky Hill softball team had hoped to call it an early afternoon Saturday at the Class 5A Region 6 tournament at the Aurora Sports Park, but the day took a different turn.
Coach B.J. Kingsbaker’s sixth-seeded Buffaloes would have liked to win their first two games and take away any drama in qualifying for the Oct. 22-23 5A state tournament at the same venue, but 11th-seeded Chatfield had other ideas.
The Chargers snapped Smoky Hill’s 12-game winning streak with a 7-1 victory in a game between opening round winners to take the first of two available state spots and leave the Centennial League champions facing a do-or-die final contest against 22nd-seeded Fruita Monument.
The Buffaloes had little difficulty rebounding, however, as home runs from seniors Izzy Giroux and Amrajie Bass and junior Eliana Trujillo sparked them to a 10-3 victory that gave them the second state tournament berth.
Smoky Hill joined rival Cherokee Trail in the 5A state tournament field as the Cougars earned their way through with an 8-7 win over Rocky Mountain to conclude the Region 3 tournament held at Legacy High School.
Eaglecrest nearly made it a trio of Centennial League teams at state, but lost to Castle View in Region 5’s final game in Fort Collins.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com.Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2021 CLASS 5A REGION 3 SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
Oct. 16 at Aurora Sports Park
Smoky Hill 8, Fort Collins 0
Score by innings:
Fort Collins 000 000 0 — 0
Smoky Hill 060 101 x — 8
WP — Smoky Hill: Delaney Farnsworth (7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K). Smoky Hill hitting: Izzy Giroux 2-4, HR, 5 RBI, run; Delaney Farnsworth 2-4; Eliana Trujillo 1-3, RBI, run; Gabi Giroux 3 runs; Paris Elsberry 2B
Chatfield 7, Smoky Hill 1
Score by innings (r-h-e):
Chatfield 000 003 4 — 7 10 1
Smoky Hill 000 001 0 — 1 3 1
LP — Smoky Hill: Delaney Farnsworth (7 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 K). Smoky Hill hitting: Amrajie Bass 1-3, run; Paris Elsberry 1-3; Eliana Trujillo 1-3; Delaney Farnsworth RBI
Smoky Hill 10, Fruita Monument 3
Score by innings (r-h-e):
Fruita Mon. 010 020 0 — 3 5 3
Smoky Hill 050 320 x — 10 12 4
WP — Smoky Hill: Delaney Farnsworth (7 IP, 9 K). Smoky Hill hitting: Izzy Giroux 3 hits, HR, 3 RBI; Amrajie Bass 2 hits, HR, 2 RBI; Eliana Trujillo HR, 3 RBI
